Here’s the reply (haven’t even read it yet):
It almost caught me. I finally got away after running for hours. The lantern spell never broke the entire time it was looking for me. I finally heard what the other sounds are. They’re voices. The thoughts of other people it took.
I know it seems crazy but I swear I heard Augernon. I was physically and mentally exhausted by the time it stopped coming after me, so yes, I could be wrong, about Augernon. But I’m not wrong about the voices.
I have to admit I was going to try and control it. See if I could at least. But I couldn’t get hold of it, it was too strong, and before I could control it or disconnect from it, it found me. I have to get as far away as possible from all of this if I’m going to survive, if I’m going to last long enough to make it to you.
The only problem… I’ve either kept all of this from all of you, or I don’t remember you or what I know. But if I’m right, if I did hear the thoughts of other people in the storm, that means they might be able to hear them too. And if it ever catches me, they’ll know what you’re planning to do.
Before seeing what Augernon did, I might’ve risked it, just run for it, out of pride, out of recklessness. But he took the hit for us. For all of us. I have to lose the war today if we ever hope to win it decades from now. I can’t just count on losing the memories that could jeopardize all of this. I have to perform the bastard spell on myself.
I don’t know how effective it will be because there’s no one left here to help me cast it, but I can’t risk slipping up and giving you away. I know, from you, I still run. So I somehow remember what the stakes are. I know I have to go off the grid (which isn’t new to me.) And I still remember Augernon. Somehow. But something is still out there, looking for me. So I don’t forget completely. I figure the bastard spell is my best chance for how I get there, how I survive and bring you all together. So maybe Augernon saves us all.
I just can’t believe this is what it comes down to. I thought that being brave would be enough. It isn’t. I should’ve counted on them more. Depended on them, believed in them. Been there for them. But now it’s done. Now I just have to do what I can to make sure the fight goes on. I can’t let you down too. All of this has to be for something.
Unlock that damned book, Mountaineers. For all of us ‘94s.
It has worked. Evelyn is not possessed by some demon. There is a voice on the air that commands her to do these things. To howl and hurt herself and those around her. I have heard it. Just tonight. My ears prick at its whisper. My pen scratches out its thoughts. I know now that someone has taken the reins of my beloved’s mind.
There is a verse on the tip of my tongue and the edges of my fingers. A verse that might allow me to break the voice’s hold, to usurp its command. But though I have the wordly skills to bend its voice to me, I do not have the strength to break its will.
I lack both skill and sufficient power to rid my love of this curse. Some demented force beyond these walls seeks to drive my wife to madness, to drag me tooth and nail behind her, and all that I am able to do is listen as it tears her apart. What I would be, or break, to have rid of it.
[Use a lantern with new oil and an unburned wick or an unlit candle to represent your untainted intentions. Find a dark and quiet place. It’s helpful to be near the person or thing you believe is being coerced. Light a new flame and repeat the incantation. If successful you will not only hear the disembodied voice but may also be driven to speak or write the words you hear spoken.]
The voice on waves of aether’s air
Be drawn upon the light
I call you from the nether’s lair
To bring you into sight
Whisper toward the lantern, mine
A fire burning clear
Your shadow thoughts are bending now
And turning to my ear
That sullen song is echoing
Black bell that has been rung
Your words are at my fingertips
And spilling from my tongue
You are awesome Robert!
I wonder if it’s the book, or maybe there are more aspects in the mundane world than the Storm that keep people forgetting magiq? It could be that The Little Red House is too magiqally powerful to remember in the mundane world.
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